Volunteers gather to clean Walkerspruit
Cleaning litter in the area surrounding the canal is vital because the water ultimately ends up in the ocean, and the marine ecosystem will be at severe risk.
More than 90 volunteers from Save the Earth from A to Z, We Are One (ASEZ WAO) came together for a two-hour clean-up campaign to clean the area around the Walkerspruit Canal and identified illegal dumping sites in Sunnyside.
The volunteers, together with Councillor Leanne De Jager, were divided into two groups to clean areas that desperately needed to be cleaned in the Walkerspruit area.
Trevor Malgas, a volunteer from ASEZ WAO said a small group of volunteers cleaned at the corner of Johnston Street and Walton Jameson Avenue, and the larger group cleaned the area around Bourke Street, Walkerspruit Canal.
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He said that cleaning litter in the area surrounding the canal is vital because the waters ultimately end up in the ocean, and the marine ecosystem will be at severe risk.
“We are trying our best to always pick up litter that will end up in the ocean.”
He described littering as an initially temporary health hazard but said that if left uncollected it poses a long-term health hazard to all the area residents and the environment as a whole.
“ASEZ WAO truly regards everyone as one with us, so picking up the litter is not something small, but we are helping preserving the health of human kind, and at the same time we are also helping earth to maintain its natural environment,” said Malgas.
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ASEZ WAO is a volunteering group composed of economically active youths from the World Mission Society Church of God. “We carry out diverse volunteer activities to achieve the United Nation’s Special Development Goals for a better world for people, and the environment alike. ASEZ WAO stands for Save the Earth from A to Z, We Are One,” he said.
Ward 92 councillor, Leanne De Jagers, who helped with plastic waste bags, said she is grateful to have the assistance of ASEZ WAO in cleaning dumping sites in Sunnyside.
She said this is not the first time they have helped in the ward, and that this time they focussed on keeping the environment clean. “Along the Walkerspruit, we have a challenge, because dumping has contaminated the water of the spruit as well as the environment, and this has led to a health hazard,” she said.
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She added that Tshwane metro has had a strike that lasted for almost three months, and during this, no waste was collected, and this led to an increased amount of illegal dumping, but said that the Tshwane mayor announced on Thursday that the strike was officially over.
“We have found a number of buildings that have been dumping into the canal itself, due to the fact that waste was not collected by waste trucks.”
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She concluded that Tshwane Metro has a challenge due to a huge refuse removal backlog which was caused by the strike, but encouraged residents to contact her when they identify dumping sites and give her the address, and she will then send waste collection teams to clean the area.
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